Afro Ark recommits to reduce new HIV infections among key populations in Gasabo District
By Elias Hakizimana.
Afro Ark organization has recommitted to significantly reduce new HIV infections among key populations in the Gasabo District by 2030.
Recently, the organization conducted Peer education training, HIV testing and counseling to curb new infection trends and linked new HIV positives to the nearest health facilities for treatment.
According to Patience Iribagiza, Executive Director of Afro Ark, these activities were conducted through a project to fight against HIV/AIDS among the key populations (Female Sex Workers, Men having Sex with Men) under the support of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) with the recommendations of Rwanda Biomedical center (RBC).
Iribagiza was speaking on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 during a stakeholders’ evaluation meeting on fast-track targets to end AIDS among key populations in the hotspots around Kagugu, Kinyinya and Kabuye health facilities in Gasabo district by 2030.
Representatives from UNAIDS, the local authorities and health providers in GASABO district participated to this meeting.
Iribagiza said that they targeted the key populations as they are the most vulnerable categories who are exposed to HIV/AIDS and they can spread it to the wider community
“Afro Ark targeted Key populations (sex workers and MSM) that continue to be infected with HIV because the great majority of them do not protect themselves and keep on infecting the general population.” Iribagiza said.
RDHS and BSS 2015 had indicated that key population had the highest prevalence with female sex workers at 45:8% and MSM at 4% respectively.
Iribagiza said that the project is one of the global interventions with the 95-95-95 targets, where 95 percent of the population should know their health status, 95 percent who know their status as positive should be on treatment and 95 percent who are on treatment have less viral suppression by 2030.
“The target up to 2030 is to reduce 200,000 new infections of HIV/AIDS. We chose these key populations because when one key population is infected, imagine how many people the person is going to meet! he/she contaminates the mass.” Iribagiza noted.
She said that key populations are still facing stigma and discrimination in the society, which lead some stop treatment as they fear people seeing them going to the health facilities.
Sometimes due to lack of free condoms near their locations, they prefer to make unprotected sex, which also contributes to the increase of new infections.
Advocacy on condom kiosks
“If we could have condom kiosks in those hotspots it can help, that is something we would work on with our health partners including RBC, districts as well as the donors of the project to see how manageable to have condom kiosks in those hotspots.” She noted.
Alphonse Rutarindwa, Director of Health in Gasabo District said that testing HIV/AIDS is done at the health centers and district hospitals and they use youth friendly center in Rusororo sector to educate the key populations.
He said that 10,477 males were tested from January 1st to November 1st, 2020 in the district. The number of females who were tested in this period is 56,311 which is four times of males.
The rate of infection was 1 percent in males and 3 percent among females.
Mobility of positive cases remains a challenge
Rutarindwa said that they still have a challenge in reducing new infections due to the mobility of HIV positive sex workers relocating from one neighborhood to the others and get tested as new cases yet they are known as HIV positive in the previous locations.
About Afro Ark
Afro Ark is a non-government organization that works from Rwanda and it is headed by young women with key interventions in the area of sexual and reproductive health rights and services including HIV prevention and management, women empowerment through entrepreneurship, gender based violence, governance and fighting malnutrition.
elias.theinpirer@gmail.com
@theinspirer publ
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